Remedy

Last night's post was so bad, I decided I had to remedy it. I was sick from McDonald's, and just sort of barfed up a lame regurgitation of events. If you're ever in Switzerland, do not ever get the Ciabatta Grande with fromage. It reaches new levels of disust. So, here's something a little better, I hope. I'm still in Geneva, though this morning, I took a train a half hour up the lakeshore to Lausanne, home of the Olympic Museum. Lausanne is the home of the International Olympic Committee. I was very impressed with the museum, as it was very nicely laid out, very modern, and very informative. Maybe it's the inherent cowboy mentality in all of us Yanks, but I had some sort of weird expectation of a museum dedicated to American Olympic ass kicking. Surprisingly though, the museum instead focused on the larger goals and ideals of the Olympic movement, which was really fascinating. A lot of time describing why the Olympics were refounded, stuff like that. They had a video library, and I did get my fix, as I watched a 9 minute clip of the 1992 dream team win the gold medal. That was the one with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, etc. I tried to watch the 1980 hockey team, but the computer thing didn't work. Whatever, it was a very good way to spend the morning. They have this park with a lot of really sweet statues, made even sweeter by listening to the Olympic fanfare on your iPod. Plus, no one ever checked my Eurail pass, so I got free passage to Lausanne and back to Geneva.

Back in Geneva, I met up with Kevin, Hilary, Mary, and Anna at Starbucks, my home away from home in Europe. I'm actually in an internet cafe in the train station, having just came from said location. Although Geneva is painfully overpriced, we had a great time, enjoying some coffee, taking artsy photographs, and talking. One of the more interesting conversations related to our perceptions of ourselves throughout the years. Like, everyone thinks they had everything figured out in high school. Then you get to college, and you're like, "wait a second, I didn't know jack." So, we were just talking about that progression. Like, are we adults now, or do we just think we are? Who knows. What I do know, is that for about 10 days now, I have been travelling Europe, with no guidelines, no tour coordinator, no nothing. The only thing I've been able to rely on to get myelf around in one piece and figure out what's going on has been myself and those who have been with me. I think the fact that right now, I am sitting in Geneva after successfully navigating through London, Chamonix, Reutte, Prague, and Munich is a good indication of the intense growth that one is necessarily brought through during such an adventure. I guess the purpose of this is to say, I feel good about myself right now, being able to handle all of this. It's certainly been intense. I still have Edinburgh, Dublin, more London, and Vienna to go. The strange thing is, after this break is over, there's only a few months until the longer spring break is upon us. Wow.

Like I said, I'm in Geneva for Christmas. It's certainly not been a very Christmas Eve-y Christmas Eve. It's really hard to get Christmasy when you're constantly on the road. It's a trade off, I suppose. I have an opportunity this year, and the traditional Christmas is being sacrificed for that opportunity. But it's very nice to be able to spend Christmas with some of the Luther crew, as they are my family for the year. There definitely is that feeling, at least among the core group of people I've been travelling with. And it's always nice to be with family at Christmas. Even if we are going to spend it at Starbucks (open on Christmas!) and seeing Casino Royale. It's been nice to get to know some different Luther people better over the past few days, which is always nice. It will be bittersweet to leave them, but I'm looking forward to spending time with my mom and after that, my friend Scott. And after that, seeing Benjamin and Kate in Vienna. Familiarity is always good. Since there is nothing to do in Geneva (honestly, don't come here, it's not as cool as it sounds), I'll probably post a Christmas message tomorrow. But if I don't, everyone have a very merry Christmas. And to those of you from WAG, sorry I missed the Christmas party. It would have been nice to see Shane drink too much and make fun of the fork he constantly has in his pocket, among so many other things, but such is life. No Leeann Chin yet, but I'm constantly on the lookout (for those of you not in the know, Leeann Chin is the preferred Chinese fast food establishment of Walgreens Pharmacy #5634). As they say in Geneva, Joyeux Nöel!